The boy was killed around noon on Monday after 11 officials from the Rui’an township of Mayu confronted his parents, Chen Liandi and Li Yuhong, over their violation of the country’s family planning policies, according to state media. Officials were trying to get Mr. Chen to pay fines for the child, the couple’s third, the official Xinhua news agency said in a report on Wednesday (in Chinese).

[…] Initial reports on the child’s death were short on detail, leaving considerable room for speculation. Chinese social media users were quick to assume the worst, with some calling for the officials to be charged with murder. The calls continued even after subsequent reports seemed to suggest the death was an accident.

[…] Economists and demographers have been pushing hard in recent months for China to scrap the one-child policy, arguing that the country’s shrinking labor force needs desperately to be replenished. Popular opposition to the family planning regime, meanwhile, has been driven largely by anger over rights violations and the aggressive tactics used by some family planning offices in enforcing the rules.